


Love Is A Beautiful Thing To Watch

by DamsInDistress



Series: F1 Cupids [4]
Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Esteban's POV, Fluff, M/M, Through the Years
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-15
Updated: 2015-08-15
Packaged: 2018-04-14 20:18:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4578519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DamsInDistress/pseuds/DamsInDistress
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Esteban watches as Nico Hülkenberg and Sergio Perez fall in love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Because I have a soft spot for Esteban and gosh this is really long but I needed to get this off my chest and my mind. I hope you guys enjoy.
> 
> This is directly related to the second part of the series but I think you can get away with not reading that but feel free to go on over there so you won't be confused of you feel like you'll get confused :)

Esteban and Checo have know each other since they where teens trying to break into the European karting scene and make their way up the ranks and ultimately into Formula 1. After their years in carting, winning some and loosing some, they've finally made their way into the lower Formulas and both of them are lucky enough to be sponsored by some companies for them to race together and against each other. In 2009, Checo started to race in the GP2 series. Esteban would watch his friend race when he can and the two still try their best to hang out with each other. Sometimes some of Checo's new friends from GP2 would join them, he thinks as he recalls a particular tall, blonde driver that was friendly with Checo and himself. 

Things changed during 2010 and talks between Checo and some Formula 1 teams were beginning to surface. Esteban was happy for his friend but at the same time felt sad that he couldn't join him to fulfill their dreams together. Esteban was in his room when someone practically banged at his door. When he opened it he saw Checo with boxes of pizza and a few cans of beer he's managed to sneak in. "I'm going to Sauber! I have an F1 seat!" Checo says as he pushes his way past the younger one into the room to place the goods on the table. "Oh my god! No way! I'm so happy for you Checo!" Esteban says as he reaches out to hug his friend. "I can't wait until you join me Este, we could be teammates and fight for podium and maybe even wins" Checo smiles at Esteban as he hands him a beer and opens one of the boxes of pizza he's brought with him for them to feast on. 

Checo was about to head to bed when his phone rang. He was about to ignore it when he saw that it was Esteban that was calling him. "Sergio! Sergio! Sergio!" Checo woke up a bit when he heard how excited Esteban sounded. "What Guti, what?" He asks the younger Mexican. "I'm joining Sauber. They got me as their reserve driver. We're gonna be in the same team." Checo's eyes widened at Esteban's news. "I'm so happy for you Esteban! We're so close to making our dreams come true. We're in the same team and maybe in a year or two you'll be racing too." Esteban makes an exited noise at the other end of the line "Are you sure you're ready for me to kick your ass?" Checo laughs at how cheeky Esteban can get. "You're such a little shit Guti. I don't know why you're my best friend." Esteban laughs at Checo's comment. "Ah, but you know you love me." And Checo knows that he wouldn't have picked anyone else other than Esteban to join him in his journey to making his F1 dreams come true. 

2013 was a year full of surprises for the two Mexicans. After a good 2012 with Sauber, which saw Checo earn some podiums and finish 10th in the championship, McLaren called upon his services and signed him up for a race seat for 2013. For Esteban, who was promised to stay as reserve driver for that year, was more than glad to be promoted to a full time race seat. When Esteban went to the Sauber factory for his race seat fitting he was surprised to see Checo hanging around. "Checo! Oh my god, you're still here." Checo laughed at Esteban's words. "Yup, just returning the keys and making sure no one bullies you on your first day, especially this one." Checo jokes as he points to who was standing next to him. Nico Hülkenberg was standing next to Checo looking at the two Mexicans with an amused smile. This was the first time that Esteban has interacted with his new teammate. He's know Nico for a while now but he can't really call them friends. He was Checo's friend first since they raced in GP2 together until Nico moved up a year before Checo did. "Please, if anyone is the bully here its you." Nico says to Checo who just sticks his tongue out to the German. Esteban was observing the two older men as they were chatting away. Nico smiling at anything that Checo would say and Checo looking at Nico with a certain gleam in his eyes that Esteban had never seen on his friend before. 

It was the middle of the season and summer break was just around the corner. Esteban was having breakfast at the hotel with Nico as they were idly talking about what they wanted to do during the break. "I guess I'm just mostly staying at Monaco during the break. Missed my own bed too much to part from it." Nico joked before taking a bite from his toast. "How about you? Anything special planned?" Esteban perked up at Nico's question. "Oh yeah, going home to Mexico. Me and Checo already booked our flights going there." At the mention of Checo's name, Esteban could have sworn he heard Nico take a sharp breath. Esteban looks at the German to see if anything was wrong but Nico was avoiding his eyes. What could it have been? Checo and Nico seem to be okay with each other. No on track accidents between them that got too out of hand so it must be something not related to racing. Esteban made a mental note to find out what was going on with his friends. He thought of ways how to crack Checo while they were home. 'Oh yeah, this is going to be easy,' Esteban mentally says to himself. 

When Esteban and Checo landed in Mexico, they were both whisked away by some sponsors who they still have commitments to. They have 3 days of sponsor commitments before they can both actually start on their summer break. On the way to their hotel for the next few days, Esteban notices how Checo has changed since signing for McLaren. He seems older than his years and that whenever he smiles it never seems to reach his eyes and just how generally tired the older Mexican looks. Esteban was worried, he doesn't like seeing his friend this way. He remembers the gleam on Checo's eyes during that time at the factory with Nico and he thinks of the other times that he's seen that look on his friend's face. During the driver's parade when the the three of them are chatting in their own spot, sharing a laugh as they wave to the crowd, Nico making an extra effort to tease Checo and make him laugh while Checo just laughs and looks at Nico with a world of admiration in his eyes. Things finally clicked in Esteban's mind but he wasn't about to jump into any conclusions. He wanted to make his friend feel better first and thinks that his earlier thought that things aren't really that easy. 

It was their last day of sponsor commitments before the two of them go on their separate ways to go see their families. Being F1 drivers, meeting the sponsors and the fans is all part of the job, and as expected, Checo handled himself like a true professional. But once they got back to their hotel Esteban can see Checo's shoulders slump and him taking a long sigh once they're on the elevator going up to their rooms. "Hey, you wanna hang out and watch movies later? Get room service. Just like old times." Esteban tries and sees Checo smile a real smile and nods. Once they exit the elevator and agree to watch movies in the older one's room after Esteban freshens up, they go into their separate rooms.  


Around 8 in the evening, Esteban knocks at Checo's door and the older one lets him in. Esteban notices how clean the room is compared to his own next door. Checo's suitcase almost untouched as the two of them have been wearing team gear for the past few days. "What do you want to watch?" Esteban asks as he flops on the bed and starts flicking through the channels. "I dunno, you pick. I'll call for food. I'm craving for Italian, that okay with you?" Esteban gives him a thumbs up as he continues flicking through channels and settles on the channel playing The Avengers. Once Checo's done ordering room services, he pads over towards the fridge and digs out two cans of beer and tosses one to Esteban. Esteban catches the beer and cracks it open, "So how long before the food gets here?" he asks. "They said 25 minutes. I got 2 pizzas and a plate of pasta to share." Checo says and Esteban nods at his choice. Checo flops on the other side of the bed beside Esteban as he finally sees what's on TV and lets our an amused snort. "You know, Nico hates being called Hulk or not really hate but he's not too fond of it. Then I told him he better get used to being called Hulk and I called him Hulk for about 3 months until he almost punched me with how annoying I was." Checo pauses as he takes a long sip from his beer. "Then he told me that he doesn't want me calling him Hulk, that his name is Nico and that I should call him that." Esteban listens to Checo and he feels like he's waiting for some sort of confession from the older one. "From that day on I never called him Hulk, I always called him Nico and I thought everything was okay until I heard the other drivers call him Hulk and that I was actually the only one calling him Nico. Before the break I asked him why I'm the only one that calls him Nico and he told me because I was special and, a-and I didn't know what to say so I ran away. And I felt so stupid." Esteban puts down his beer when he notices that tears are now falling from Checo's face and goes over to wrap his arms around his friend. "I felt so stupid Guti. I hoped for a second that he wasn't just joking with me that he actually thinks that I'm special to him. I've felt this way about him for so long and I wished so hard that maybe just a fraction of my feelings be returned and now I don't know what to do." Esteban shushes his friends as he rocks him in his arms to calm him down. Once Checo has calmed down, Esteban fetches him some water and answers the door when room services finally delivers their food. 

The two of them eat in silence, Esteban surprised at how the older one eats most of the food and goes to the mini bar and opens the bottle of wine. The two of them walk to the balcony of Checo's room and sit on the chairs just silently passing the bottle between one another. Esteban can see that Checo needed the silence after his outburst but he also needed the company and he was still his best friend and he wouldn't leave him in such a state. Esteban gulps down his wine, "You should tell him." Checo snaps his head towards Esteban, his eyes wide. "Are you crazy? And what after, for him to hate me and for him to not even be my friend. No Este, I don't think so." Checo reasons as he takes another swig from the bottle. "I'm serious Sergio. Maybe he actually feels the same way and if he doesn't then at least you'll both have closure and you can move on after that." Checo looks at Esteban with shocked eyes and takes a long gulp from the bottle. "Since when did you become mature Esteban? You used to be this kid that follows me around and I had to watch over you so you don't do anything stupid." Esteban swats at Checo and grabs the bottle from him. "Shut up, Perez. I try to be a good best friend and now you mock me." Esteban says and makes a gesture acting as if wounded from Checo's comment.


	2. Chapter 2

Once all of them have come back from the summer break, the first thing that Checo did was hunt down Nico. Having listened to Esteban's advice to tell the German how he feels, he's now trying his best to search for said German without arousing any suspicion from anyone else. When Checo suddenly feels someone tugs on his arm and turn around to see it was Esteban. "I found him. I need to sneak you in the motorhome, he's in his room. Checo smiled at Esteban and nodded as the younger man guided him towards the Sauber motorhome. It was just a Thursday so not much people are hanging around the paddock and in the motorhome so Esteban was able to sneak Checo in easily. Esteban first took Checo to his room before telling him what to do. "I'm gonna knock on his door and leave you there. I don't wanna hear anything I shouldn't hear." Checo punches Esteban's shoulder at his comment. "But seriously, just tell him how you feel. If he has feelings for you too then great, if he doesn't then the sooner you can move on." Esteban says before he gives Checo a hug and they go to knock on Nico's door. Checo walks and stands right in front of Nico's door as Esteban knocks. "Who is it?" Nico asks from inside. "Its me. Can I come in?" Esteban asks and Checo bites his lips, scared of what the German would do when he sees him in front of his room. "Just a second." Nico answers and the two Mexican hear the noise of someone getting up and walking towards the other side of the door. Esteban quickly goes in his room to hide before Nico opens the door. 

When Nico opens the door ready to hug his teammate and instead gets an armful of Checo, he doesn't let the surprise show on his face but fractionally moves his head so he can take a better look at the Mexican in his arms. "Oh, I thought you were Esteban." Nico says, still not letting go of Checo. "Uhm, no. Sorry wrong Mexican." Checo tries to joke. Nico chuckles and Checo can feel the vibration of the Germans chest. "Hmm, nah. I like hugging you too." Nico fractionally lets Checo go but still kept one arm wrapped around him as he ushers him inside his room. Once inside, Nico sits on his massage bed and pats the spot next to him and Checo walks over to sit next to Nico. "So, I thought Esteban wanted to see me, not that I'm not glad to see you." Nico smirks at Checo. "Uhm yeah, I kinda asked Guti to help me trick you." Nico gives him an amused look, raised eyebrow and all before chuckling again. "What's so important that you had to ask poor, sweet Guti to trick me?" Checo actually blushes. He was gonna do it, whatever happens next he'll have to learn to live with it. "Uhm, first off, I'm sorry for running away from you the last time and I'm sorry for making a big deal about your name and then running away from you after. And uh, I, like, uhm, you." Checo didn't realize that he's closed his eyes as he said that last sentence so he was surprised to see Nico inches away from his face when he opened them. Nico was looking at him with a gentle smile and amused eyes. "I think I figured out what you meant to say but I'd still love to hear you say it properly, Sergio." Checo takes a deap breath before meeting Nico's eyes. "I like you. Probably in love with you and I don't know what I'm going to do if you don't love me too." 

And that was the last thing thing thing that Checo was able to say as Nico presses their lips together and smiles when he finally feels the Mexican kiss him back. "I love you too. God, the moment I saw you when we were still in GP2 and I knew that you were something else." Nico's door suddenly bursts open and a grinning Esteban bursts through. "Hah! I knew it! Finally you guys are together. Please don't forget to invite me to your wedding." Esteban says before he quickly closes the door when a bottle of water was flung at his direction. "Oh my god, we waisted so much time. We're such idiots." Checo realizes and laughs as he buries his head on Nico's chest. "Yeah, but you're my idiot now." Nico says as he places a kiss on top of Checo's head. 

After a horrible year at McLaren, Checo was dropped by the team but he knew that no matter what happens Nico will always be there to catch him and pick him right back up. He was given a drive at Force India and was more than glad to share the garage with Nico when he too announced his move to Force India. Everything for them was so much more easier now. Sharing everything with one another, the good, the bad, it wasn't perfect but it was them. When Nico brought Checo with him to dinner with Rosberg, Sebastian and Adrian, the two other blondes let out an exasperated 'finally' as Sutil just raises his glass at them. 

When Nico told him his plans to join Porsche and give Le Mans a go, all Checo said was that no matter what happens that he'll be proud of him and that he better come back to him in one piece. Checo was a wreck when he and Esteban watched the 24 hours race, Checo trying his best to stay awake and leans forward when it was Nico driving the car. The two of them started to jump on the couch and scream at such a level that it alarmed Checo's dogs as they saw the number 19 Porsche that Nico was driving cross the finish line first. 

It was through Sebastian that Esteban found out that Nico was about to propose to Checo after he won Le Mans. During the weekend he managed to have a word with the German. "I know about your plan, Seb told me. He actually asked us to help him help you set it up. No, don't interrupt me Hülkenberg, I need to say this. Both of you are my friend but Sergio is my best friend, hell, he's practically a brother to me. And if you hurt him or, God forbid, break his heart, I promise to break into Maranello and steal Seb's Ferrari and drive it all the way to Monaco just so I can run you over with it." And Nico nods, getting the picture and amazed at how scary Esteban can be. Esteban smiles, as if no life threatening threat has left his lips, and skips off to go back to the Ferrari motorhome. 

During the night, in a small restaurant and in front of the rest of the drivers, Nico asks Sergio to marry him and he says yes. Sebastian probably already has their wedding all planned and when Checo shows Esteban his ring he all but threatened the older Mexican that he better be his best man at their wedding as Kimi raises his glass for all of them to toast the newly engaged couple. 

Esteban was fixing his bowtie as he hears Checo behind him being fussed over by his mother and making sure that his suit was perfect and not a wrinkle in site. They were in Mexico, in a seaside resort and it was one of the places where the sunsets perfectly and it was the summer break. Esteban walks over to the balcony and looks down at the beach where he can see Sebastian ordering people around and making everything perfect for the ceremony. Nico was chatting with Kimi who was with Minttu and the Rosbergs as they watch their kids in their tiny formal clothes as they were the designated ring bearer and flower girl. As more guests started to arrive and take their seats, the entire grid that year with their wives and girlfriends and kids and some of the other people that they've raced with through the years also arriving for the occasion. 

Sebastian glances up to the balcony of Sergio's room and sees Esteban and gives him a nod that means that its show time. Esteban turns back to where Checo was and sees that he was now joined by both his parents and that they were giving them their final blessing before they walk him down the aisle. "Its time." Esteban says as they look to him and smile. Checo's parents leave the two and told them that they'll wait for them downstairs. Esteban walks over to Checo and gives him a hug. "You ready to be a hyphenated Hülkenberg?" Esteban asks and Checo laughs. "As ready as I'll ever be." And the two of them head downstairs. 

Esteban walks down the aisle and was followed by Sebastian, both of them standing on either side of the end of the aisle. Nico was first to be walked down the aisle by his parents and as he kissed his mom and hugged his dad and takes his place beside Sebastian, he was finally able to take a deep breath as he waits for the man that he'll spend forever with. Everyone looks as Checo walks down the aisle with his parents to his left and right and Esteban glances at Nico who was across from him and he can see tears threatening to spill from his eyes but the biggest smile on his lips. As Checo makes it at the end of the aisle and kisses his mom and dad and finally looks at Nico and ceremony begins.

When Nico and Sergio share their vows and said their 'I do's', not one eye was left dry as Esteban found himself choking up on more than one occasion, and when the two of them finally shared their first kiss as husbands, that was when everyone present there knew that the two of them are about to start their forever together and that their love for each other was one of the most beautiful things that they are all privileged enough to watch.


End file.
